River Forest, Ill.- Concordia-Chicago was back in action this evening as they took on River Forest rival Dominican University.  Last season, both teams won on their respective home courts splitting the series.  Tonight lived up to expectations as it was a hard fought, chippy game all throughout.  However, Dominican capitalized on CUC turnovers to win by the final score of 89-82.

Early in the first half, the Cougars and Stars traded baskets with neither team really taking control of the game.  Midway through the half, Dominican enforced their well disciplined defense that led to CUC turnovers to grab their largest lead of seven.  Concordia-Chicago's bench of Jamaal Thomas hitting a three from the wing and a Henry Woo Jr. layup quickly got the Cougars right back in the game to cut the lead back to two.  With the lead back up to four with five minutes left in the half, the Cougars rattled off a 9-0 run highlighted by two Mitch Pelissier threes and a Sawyer Concklin three to take a 34-29 lead.  The lead quickly evaporated as the Cougars couldn't buy a basket in the final three minutes of the half and the Stars took advantage of that responding with a crucial 14-0 run to end the half to take a 43-34 lead into halftime.

The second half didn't start any better for the Cougars as the Stars started the half on a 10-2 run to extend their lead to 17.  However, CUC did not go away quietly.  Pelissier and Jonathan Wilson were leading the charge hitting consecutive baskets to keep them in striking distance.  Concordia-Chicago went on a 10-2 run of their own midway through the half as Woo Jr. hit a three from the top of the key and a Pelissier acrobatic layup to bring the Cougars within four.  Unfortunately, that was the closest CUC could ever get as turnovers and missed opportunities plagued the Cougars late in the game as the Stars pulled away and won by the final score of 89-82.

Pelissier had a game high of 23 points (9-16), seven rebounds, and five assists.  Wilson followed that with another solid performance of 17 points (4-9), but 9-9 from the free throw line and five rebounds.  

Concordia-Chicago shot 49 percent (30-61) from the floor and 50 percent (8-16) from behind the arc compared to Dominican shooting 47 percent (32-68) from the field and only 32 percent (8-25) from three.  The big difference in the game was the Stars scored 27 points off of 18 Cougar turnovers.     

The Cougars (1-10, 0-7 NACC) will return to action this Saturday when they host Lakeland University.  Tip off is set for 2:00pm.